Claws of Eternity ✔️

Prologue

VLAD

1460

The utter sense of despair took over Vlad as he stared at the love of his life standing on a window sill surrounded by impenetrable darkness. His maid, Heksa, screamed in horror at the sight in front of them.

"Leona, get down!" Vlad shrieked, his voice nearly breaking.

Leona was barely recognisable behind the black mist. A harsh wind whooshed around her body, chilling the room and Vlad to the bones. Her face was wild, her eyes wide and so, so black. The aura of power and instability surrounded her like a shield. Vlad tried to approach her but she merely lifted her hands and he was stopped. He couldn't move, his legs buried in place, something sticky crawling down his body.

"They are coming!" She shouted, her voice sounding otherworldly. Too much power, Vlad thought, she has too much.

"Leona, get down and we will talk about it! Please!" Vlad had to shout louder than usual due to the loud wind that threatened to drag them both to the claws of death.

Leona shook her head. Her hair wasn't even yellow anymore, it was white. This damned power was taking everything alive in her, draining her.

"They are coming, Vlad! I have to stop them!" Her voice was now pleading, bordering on cracking. Did she really want this? Vlad asked himself as he stared at this menacing woman.

"What about your baby? Leona, what about her?" Vlad didn't know what else to mention, only her love for her child could stop her now.

"You will take care of my baby, won't you, Vlad? Promise me you will take care of Giselle! She will come here, she will come and you need to save her!" Leona's eyes were now full of tears and the wind around her calmed down a bit.

Vlad saw it as a chance and he approached her, but in an instant, Leona's hands were in front of her again and he hit a translucent, hard shield that blasted him across the room. Desperation took over Vlad, he felt small in front of this immense power. And Leona looked lethal and mad.

"She needs her mother. She needs you, Leona, I need you." Vlad's voice cracked and he couldn't help the sudden heartache in his chest that made it difficult to breathe.

"I need to save us! They're coming! Not the vampires or the wolves. Not even witches. Something else, Vlad, something else is coming to destroy us all." Leona swung from side to side and Vlad wanted to catch her so badly, but he couldn't get to her.

He heard voices behind him and realised that his counsellors and half of Bran Castle are standing in the hallway witnessing this.

"Leona..." he began, "I don't think they are coming." His voice was careful because he expected an outburst of rage, but Leona smiled lightly, almost like she pitied him.

"Vlad, darling, prophesies are coming true. I can't stop the inevitable but I can postpone it. If I don't do this, we are all going to die." She said solemnly.

She believed it, she really did. And for the first time, Vlad thought she might not be mad after all. Perhaps, Leona was right all along but none of them listened. And perhaps, the end of days will come.

"There must be another way." Vlad whispered.

"The sky will open again and I can only do so much." She said, her eyes softening, the darkness in them disappearing for a brief moment.

"Don't do this, Leona. Don't do this to Giselle. Don't do this to me..." All the strength in his voice vanished. "How am I going to live without you?" Those last words were barely a whisper as Vlad mouthed them.

The darkness left Leona's eyes and she stared at Vlad like she stopped mid-sentence. All the feelings seemed to pass between them without a single word. Perhaps souls really do recognize each other, Vlad thought, because he was sure his would fall apart without this incredible woman.

The wind around her quieted down and all that was left was the calm breeze encircling Vlad in a warm embrace. Her face was so pale. Beneath all that power rumbling through her, she looked like a feather ready to be blown away into nothing. Vlad wanted to hold her, he wanted to tell her it would all be fine, that they could handle this.

Vlad saw a spark in Leona's eye and he could feel her lifting that shield that surrounded her. Leona exhaled and seemed to calm down a bit. Vlad had to restrain himself from coming closer out of fear she would build that shield right up. But he was prepared to jump for her at any moment.

She threw a glance towards the endless woods and mountains beyond them and she nodded once for herself, as if she was battling within a war too complex for Vlad to understand. Her shield is gone, he realised, she's letting him catch her. Just as he was about to approach her, she looked straight into his eyes.

"Tell her I love her." She jumped.

"No!" Vlad screamed as he simultaneously ran for Leona with unnatural speed. But he was too damn slow and he stared in horror as her body flew all the way down to the sharp rocks at the bottom of the castle. Without thinking, he jumped for her, foolishly thinking he could catch her. His lungs were full of the chilly air as he fell further and further.

And he watched her, moments before he crashed into the ground, he watched her body splatter all over the rocks, twisting in impossible angles. And he felt his heart mimic the shattering.

Vlad crashed into the ground, feeling the impact destroy his limbs. But he would be fine, he would always be fine. He had to swallow the vomit building up in his mouth when he saw Leona's limbs detached from her torso. Vlad stared at parts of her body and he heard a loud thud coming somewhere from the core of the world as the most powerful witch of their time died in front of his eyes.

And Vlad watched the disciples of Bran Castle gather and stare in shock, but he couldn't move.